Locomotive turbine drive



Nov. 2, 1937.

LOCOMOTIVE TURBINE DRICVE I* G. B. WARREN 2,098,074

'Filedsepn 21, 1935 sheets-sheet 1 Inventor; Glenn B. Warerw, bg 79! Hiszttorrweg.

, N@v.2,1937. G, B, WARREN 2,098,074 LocoMoTIvE TURBINE DRIVE FiledSept. 21, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w w., m .n we Q .out mi w m mH/rPatentedNov. 2, 12937 I y y UNITED STATES *PATENT OFFICE LocoMoTIvETURBINE DRI'VE Glenn B. Warren, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to GeneralElectric Company, a corporation o! New York Application september 21,1935, serial No. 41.625

1i. claims. (ci. losQssi The present invention relates to locomotive bya gearing I5, an intermediate high pressure turbine drive; that is, toarrangements for drivturbine I6 coupled to the axle II by a gearing inga locomotive by elastic uid turbine means. Il, an intermediate lowpressure turbine I 8 cou- An elastic fluid turbine operates at its besteipled to the axle I 2 by a gear or gearing I9 and a 5 ciency at acertain speed; hence, the usual locolow pressure turbine 20 for drivingthe axle I3 5 motive turbine drive for operating a locomotive through a.gearing 2|. Elastic uid is conducted through the intermediary ofgearingsbetween tothe high pressure turbine I4 through an inlet theturbine means and the axles has a low elconduit 22 includingiaI controlvalve 23. The turciency if the locomotive speed varies considerbines I4,I6, I8 and 20 are connected in series,

10 ably, for instance, when a high speed locomotive' `the exhaustelastic uid of the turbine I4 being l0 is often operated at low speed.conducted to the inlet of the turbine I6 by a con- The object of theYpresent invention is to produit 24; the exhaust of the turbine I 6being convide improved construction and arrangement for ducted to theturbine I8 by a conduit 25; and the locomotive drives wherebyalocomotive, more exhaust of the turbine I8 being conducted to theparticularly the turbine drive, is operated at turbine 20 by a crossoverconduit 26. The gear- 15 comparatively high emciency. This is accomingsI5, Il, I9 and 2| maybe of anyknown design pllshed, in accordance withmy invention, by the and they may include reversing means, such asprovision of at least two turbines or groups of are disclosed in theapplication of John H. Doran, turbines coupled to the axle or axles ofthe loco- Serial No. 30,084', led July 6, 1935, and assigned motive, oneturbine for operation at high speed to the same assignee as the presentapplication. 20 and the other turbine for operation at low speed. Thefirst group of turbines described above may Preferably, however, Iprovide, in accordance with be operated at low locomotive speeds; forinstance, my invention, at least two groups of elastic iiuid from startof the locomotive until speeds of the turbines, one group for operationat, high speed order of forty-ve miles an hour are reached.

of the locomotive and the other group for oper- At speeds aboveforty-live miles an hour, the ation at low speed.` For example, in thecase rst group is at least Ipartly disconnected or where a locomotive isrun at speeds up to seventy rendered inoperative and a second group isopermiles an hour, one such group of turbines may be ated. This secondgroup comprises a high pres- Operated at speeds from zero to forty-livemiles sure turbine 21 coupled to the axle I0 by the same an hour, andthe other group above forty-five gearing means I5 as the turbine I4.'Ihe arrangemiles an hour. Each of the groups' includes sevment may besuch that the rotors 0f both turbines eral turbines. In accordance witha further em- I4 and 21 are provided on the same shaft. A Secbodiment ofmy invention, these turbines are conond or intermediate high pressureturbine 23 of nected in series as regards the flow of elastic uid thesecond group is similarly geared by the geartherethrough, and eachturbineof a group is ing means Il, and a. third or intermediate low 35coupled by speed reducing gearing means, which pressure turbine 29 ofthe second group is conmay be a reversing gearing, to a separate axle ofnected to the axle I2- by the gearing |9 This the locomotive. Inaddition, means are provided second group also includes the 10W pressureturfor automatically or manually controlling the flow bine 20, thelatter being Common to both groups,

40 of fluid through each turbine in order to assure although two 10Wpressure turbines might be pro- 40 equal power of all axles. y vided.The turbines of the second group are also For a better understanding ofwhat I believe to connected in series. Elastic iluid is conducted to benovel and my invention, attention is directed to Vthe turbine 21 througha Conduit 30 including a vthe following description and the claimsappended control valve 3|. Thel exhaust of the turbine 21 thereto inconnection with the accompanying is conducted to the turbine 28 by acrossover con- 45 drawings. duit 32; the exhaust of the turbine V28 is con- In the drawings Fig. 1 illustrates a diagramducted to the turbine 29by a crossover conduit matic view of a locomotive turbine drive embody-33, and the turbine 29 discharges through a coning my invention and Fig.2 shows a modification duit 34 into, the low pressure turbine 20.according to my invention.J y `V Means are provided for preventing backow 50 Inthe present instance, I have shown a locoof elastic fluidthrough the turbines of one group motive with four drive axles I0, I.I,I2 and I3. during the operation of the other group. vThis 'Iwo groups ofelastic fluid turbines are provided means in the present instance hasbeen shown as y for driving the axles. The rst group includes a a backvflow valve 35 in the conduit 26 between high pressure turbine I4 coupledto the axle Il) the turbines I8 and 20 and another back flow 55 valve 36in the conduit 34 between the turbines 29 and 26. During operation ofthe nrst group, the valve 36 prevents back ow into the second group, andduring operation of the second group, the valve 36 prevents back ilow ofelastic :duid into the first group or a part thereof. During operationof one group, the other group runs idle with the exception that the lowpressure turbine 20, which is common to both groups and is operated atall speeds. As pointed out above, the back ilow valves 36 and 36 preventthe back now of elastic fluid so that during the operation of one groupthe other group runs idle at partial vacuum in the turbines. This isdesirable in that lit reduces considerably Athe friction losses.

In order to obtain best elciency, it ls important that the torque beuniformly distributed- A among the dierent axles to insure uniform speedof all axles in order to prevent slipping of one or more axles. To thisend, I provide, in accordance with my invention, means for controllingthe flow of elastic fluid through the individual turbines in order toinsure uniform speed and hence uniform torque transmission to thedifferent axles. The flow of elastic fluid through the differentturbines is controlled by means of by-pass conduits including valvemeans for each turbine.

' In the present instance, I have shown a by-pass conduit 31 for theilrst group of turbines connected between the inlet conduit 22 and thecrossover conduit 26, and having branches 38 and 39 connected to thecrossover conduits 24 and 26, respectively. 'I'he conduit 31 with thebranch 38 forms a by-pass with respect to the turbine I4, and theconduit 31 together with the branches 33 and 39 forms -a by-pass for theturbine I6. The by-pass `of the elastic uid with respect to theindividual turbines is controlledby means of valves 4l, 42 and 43,respectively, disposed in the different sections of the conduit 31; Noby-pass is provided with respect to the low pressure turbine 26 becausethe latter is dimensioned so'that under normal operating condition withequal speed of all turbines, its torque is smaller than the torques ofthe other turbines. Hence, no slipping o! the axle I3 can take place. Ifduring operation it is found that the axle I6 slips, the operator opensthe valve 4|, whereby part of the steam conducted to the high pressureturbine I4 is by-passed across this turbine to the intermediate highpressure turbine I6. This reduces the power and hence the speed of theturbine I4 until the axle Ill reaches the speed or the other axle.Similarly, if the axle II slips; that is, runs, at higher speed than theother axles, the

valve 42 is somewhatopened to by-pass elastic from theaxle I6. The coil43 is connected by a line 6I to another electric generator 62 driven bythe axle I3. The iluxes produced by the opposing windings 41 and 46compensate each other as long as the axles I6 and 'I3 run at equalspeed.

It, however, the axle I6 slips; that is.' runs, at ahigher speedthantheaxle |3,a resultant ilus the valve 4I,

is produced which pulls the electromagnet 44 towards the left againstthe biasing force of a spring 63, and thereby causes opening of thevalve 4I. The arrangement for automatically actuating the valves 42 and43 is similar to that ot the arrangement just described in connectionwith the valve 4I. The electromagnet 46 for the bypass valve 42 isenergized or controlled by two coils, a coil.54 connected to the line 6Iand another coil 66 connected by a line 66 to a small generator 61,driven from the axle Il. The electromagnet 46 for the by-passvalve 43 isenergized by a coil 56 connected to line 6I, and an opposing coil 69connected by a line 60 to a small generator 6I driven from the axle I2.

Similar means are provided for automatically controlling the by-passingof elastic nuid with re t to the second group of generators. This meansincludes a bypass conduit 62 connected between the inlet conduit 36 ofthe turbine 21 and the crossover conduit 34. The conduit 62 has a branch63 connected to the crossover conduit 32 and another branch 64 connectedto the crossover conduit 33. The different sections ol .the conduit 62include by-pass valves 66, 66,

and 61 for controlling the by-passing of elastic uld with regard to theturbines 21, 23, and 29, respectively. The by-pass valves areautomatically controlled and biased towards closed position by springs63. The valves are connected to electromagnets 68, 63, and 16,respectively'.x Each electromagnet is energized by two opposing coils.The electromagnet 66 is energized by a coil 1I connected through a line12 to the `aforementionedgenerator 62 driven rfrom the axle I3. A coil13 opposing the'coil 1I is connected to the, generator 66. Theelectromagnet 69 for the by-pass valve 66 is energized by a coil 14connected to the line 12 and an opposing coll 15 connected through theaforementioned line 66 to the generator 51, and the electromagnet 16 isenergized by a coil 16 connected to the line 12 and an opposing coil 11connected by the line 60 to the generator 6I driven from the axle I2.With this arrangement, constant speed of all axles is assured. If at anytime, one of the axles begins to speed up; that is, to slip, theby-/pass valve of the corresponding turbine is automatically closed, andhence the torque transmitted from such turbine to the axle is reduced. L

The arrangement of Fig. 2 comprises four axles 66, 6I, 62 and 63. Theaxles 6I, 62 form a nrst group oi axles which group is driven by twoturbines, a low speed. high pressure turbine 64 and f two turbines 64,66 are connected to the axles 66.

6I by common gearing means 66'.l The axles 62, 63 form a second group ofaxles driven by two other turbines, a low speed, low pressure turbine 31and a high speed, low pressure turbine 66. The two low pressure turbinesare connected to the axles 62, 63 by a single gearing means 63. The lowspeed turbines 64 and 61 are connected in series by a crossover conduit66 between the exhaust of the high pressure turbine 64 and the inlet ofthe low pressure turbine 61. During opera tion elastic fluid isconducted to the high pressure turbine 64 by means of a conduit 6Iwhence the elastic duid is discharged inw the low pressure turbine 61',which latter vhas an exhaust conduit 62. Similarly, the'high speedturbines 66 and 66 are connected in series by a crossover conduit 63connected between the exhaust ot the turbine 66 and the inlet oi' theturbine 66. The

vhighpressureturtiine66hasaninleteomluil'ltli 94 and the low pressureturbine 88 has an exhaust conduit 95. At low speed the locomotive isdriven bythe rst group of turbines 84, 81, and at high speed thelocomotive is being operated by the second group of turbines 85 and 88.

Whereas in the arrangement describedv in connection with Fig. 1 therotors of the low speed turbines are rotated during high speedoperation, I provide in the present instance means whereby the rotors ofthe low speed turbines 84, 81 may run idle or remain stationary duringhigh speed operation. To thisend the shaft of the turbine 84 is coupledto the gearing 86 through a free wheeling or overrunning clutch 96, andsimilarly, the shaft of turbine 81 is connected to the gearing 89through the intermediaryV of another free wheeling or overrunning clutchmember 91. Any suitable known design of free wheeling clutches may beused. Thus with this arrangement the low speed turbines 84, 81 mayremain stationary duringA operation of the second group of turbines 85,88. 'This reduces or eliminates thefriction losses during high speedoperation of the locomotive.

Whereas inthe arrangement of Fig. l slipping ofthe individual axles isreduced by the provision of bypass conduits including valveswith respectto the turbines, I provide in the present instance a valve means in theexhaust conduit of each turbine for controlling the pressure drop andaccordingly the load output of the individual turbine in response toslipping of such turbine. In the drawings a valve 98 is provided forcontrolling load output of the low speed, high pressure turbine 84 andanother valve 99 is provided for controllingthe load output of the lowspeed, low pressure turbine 81. Similar valve means 408 and 18| arearranged inconnection with the high speed turbines 85 and 88respectively.

Having described the method of operation oi my invention together withthe apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodimentthereof, I desire to have it understood that thev apparatus shown isonly illustrative and that the invention may be'carried out by othermeans. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent in theUnited States is:

l. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of aplurality of axles, a turbine and a gearing for each axle, conduit meansconnecting the turbines in series, and bypass conduit means includingvalve means for the turbines to edect equal load output of the turbines.

2. A locomotive drive arrangement including the c ombination of a firstand a second axle, a y

high pressure turbine and gearing for driving the rst axle, a lowpressure turbine and gearing for driving the second axle, means forconducting the exhaust of the high pressure turbine to the inlet of thelow pressure turbine, and means for automatically bypassing elasticfluid across the high pressure turbine in response to slip of the rstaxle.

3. A locomotive vdrive arrangement including the combination or aplurality vof axlesand two groups of elastic iiuid turbines, one groupfor operation at high locomotive speed and another group for operationat low locomotive speed, each group including a turbine for each axle,the turbines of each group being connected in series.

4. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a iirstand a second axle, a

high pressure elastic iiuid turbine and' gearing means for driving therst axle at low speed, another high-pressure turbine and gearing meansi'or driving the'iirst axle at high speed, a low pressure turbine andgearing for driving the second axle at high and at low speed, conduitmeans connecting the inlet of the low pressure turbine to the exhaust ofboth high pressure turbines, and other conduit means including valvesfor conducting elasticy fluid to either of the high pressure turbines.

5. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a irstand a second axle, a first and a second high pressure elastic iiuldturbine and gearing means for alternately driving the first axle fromthe rst and the second high pressure turbine, a low pressure turbine andother gearing means for driving the second axle, conduit meansconnecting the inlet of the low pressur turbine to the exhaust of bothhigh pressure turb es, conduit means for separately conducting elasticfluid to the high pressure turbines, and

, high pressure elastic uid turbine and gearing means for driving therst axle at low speed, another high pressure turbine'and gearing meansfor driving the first axle at high speed, a low pressure turbine andgearing for driving the second axle, conduit means connecting the inletof the low pressure turbine to the exhaust of both high pressureturbines, and means for automatically bypassing elastic iiuid across oneof the high pressure turbines in response to slip of the rst axle.

-7. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of aplurality of axles, two groups of series connected elastic fluidturbines, each group including a turbine for each axle, and means forcontrolling the flow of elastic uid through the turbines comprisingbypass conduit means and valve means i'or each turbine.

8. A locomotive drivearrangement including the combination of aplurality of axles, two groups of series connected elastic uid turbines,each group including ,a turbine for each axle, means for controlling theilow of elastic uid through the turbines comprising bypass conduit meansand valve means for each turbine, and means for automaticallypositioning the by-pass valve means in response to speed changes of oneaxle relative to another axle.

9. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a firstand a second axle, a high pressure elastic uid turbine and gearing fordriving the rst axle at' low speed, another high pressure turbine andgearing means for driving the rst axle at high speed, a low pressureturbine and gearing for driving the second axle, conduit meansconnecting-'the inlet oftheu low pressure turbine to the exhaust of bothhigh;

pressure turbines, a bypass conduit including a valve for each highpressure turbine, and means controlling the valve comprising anvelectromagnet connected to the valve, an energizing, coil for theelectromagnet, a small generator driven by of axles, means including alow speed and a high speed high pressure turbine for driving the rstgroup of axles, other means including a low speed and a high speed lowpressure turbine for driving the second group of axles, means connectingthe low speed turbines in series, and other means connecting high speedturbines in series.

11. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a rstand a second axle,

means including a low speed and a high speed high pressure turbine fordriving the rst axle, means including a low speed and a. high speed lowpressure turbine for driving a. second axle, crossover conduit meansbetween the low speed turbines, other crossover conduit means betweenthe high speed turbines connecting the turbines in series, and valvemeans in the crossover conduit means forv controlling the high pressureturbines in order to eiect uniform torque transmission to the differentaxles.

12. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a rstaxle, a second axle, rst and second gearing means for the axles, a lowspeed and a high speed high pressure turbine connected to the rstgearing means for driving the first axle, a low speed and a high speedlow pressure turbine connected to the second gearing means for drivingthe second axle, free wheeling clutch means interposed between the lowspeed turbines and the corresponding gearing means to permit idling ofthe low speed turbines during high speed operation, and means lov1pressure turbines.

, the combination of a rst axle means, a second axle means, meansincluding a high pressure high speed elastic iiuid turbine and ahighpressure low speed elastic tluld turbine for driving the .iirst axlemeans, means including a low pressure high speed elastic uid turbine anda low pressure low speed elastic fluid turbine for driving the secondaxle means, a crossover conduit connecting the high speed turbines inseries, and another crossover conduit connecting the low speed turbinesin series.

14. A locomotive drive arrangement including the combination of a iirstaxle means, a second axle means, means including al. high pressure highspeed elastic fluid turbine and a high pressure low speed elastic iiuidturbine for driving the first axle means, means including a low pressurehigh speed elastic fluid turbine and a low pressure low speed elasticduid turbine for driving the second axle means, a crossover conduitconnecting the high speed turbines in series, another crossover conduitconnecting the low speed ,turbines in series, and means for controllingthe load output oi the 'high pressure turbines lto en'ect equal loadoutput of the high pressure and GLENN B. WARREN.

